March 2009 Briefing - Allergy

Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Allergy for March 2009. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.

Safe Practice Scores Do Not Add Up to Fewer Patient Deaths

TUESDAY, March 31 (HealthDay News) -- In hospitals, higher self-reported scores for improvements in safe practices do not correlate with reduced mortality rates, researchers report in the April 1 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

MONDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- In children, variants in GST mu genes are associated with decreased lung capacity and small airway flow, according to a study published in the April 1 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

WEDNESDAY, March 25 (HealthDay News) -- Citing cost barriers, relatively few U.S. hospitals have adopted electronic health records, posing a major obstacle for policy makers who say health information technology is critical to the improvement of health care quality and cost-effectiveness, according to an article published online March 25 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

FRIDAY, March 20 (HealthDay News) -- In early childhood, increased television viewing is associated with a higher risk of developing asthma in later childhood, according to the results of a study published online March 13 in Thorax.

FRIDAY, Mar. 6 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning about the risk of burns as a result of wearing medicated patches, such as those used for smoking cessation or pain relief, during MRI scans.

THURSDAY, Mar. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Achieving health care reform is one of President Barack Obama's major challenges, and his newly released spending plan calls on Congress to commit $630 billion over the next decade to finance that reform, according to an article published online Mar. 4 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

WEDNESDAY, Mar. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Mepolizumab therapy reduces exacerbations and has other benefits in asthma patients with eosinophilia, according to two studies published in the Mar. 5 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

MONDAY, Mar. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Although the mortality rate related to motor vehicles remained almost unchanged from 1999 to 2005 in the United States, on closer inspection the data reveals wide variations from state to state, as well as by gender and ethnicity, according to a report published in the Feb. 27 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

MONDAY, Mar. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Children with asthma have fewer symptoms when their exposure to air pollution is reduced, while antibiotic use is associated with an exacerbation of symptoms, according to two studies published in the March issue of Pediatrics. A third study found that pertussis vaccination is not associated with increased risk of asthma.